Monday, Sep. 29, 2008

Northwest Open will return to Richland in 2009

By Eric Degerman, sportstricities.com

There’s a level of uncertainty regarding the future of Windermere as the title sponsor, but the Northwest Open is set to return next year to Meadow Springs Country Club in Richland.

That was confirmed Friday by the Pacific Northwest Section of the Professional Golfers Association.

“We have a two-year contract with Meadow Springs,” said Doug Gullikson, director of sales & marketing for the section, which is headquartered in Olympia.

A number of club professionals playing in the tournament proper wondered if the event would be back at Meadow Springs because of the small field for the weekend pro-am, which pays the bills and seeds the tournament purse.

A full field is 56 teams. However, only 32 club/sponsor teams competed. Many of those team slots were to be filled by staff from Windermere offices around the Northwest.

“The plan was a fantastic plan, but it backfired with the economy,” Gullikson said. “The goal was to get the (Windermere) owners, brokers and agents into this big party, but when you have owners having to go to the bank just to keep their doors open, it’s hard to justify playing in a golf tournament.”

The state of the housing and lending market would seem to make Windermere even less likely to return as the 2009 title sponsor, but Gullikson said he plans meet again with Windermere executives.

However, Gullikson said he hopes to announce the 2009 title sponsor by Dec. 1.

“I’ll be back in the Tri-Cities in the next 30 days,” Gullikson said.

It’s likely that he’ll lean on the Tri-Cities Visitors and Convention Bureau to help him find a sponsor.

“Janice Heitschmidt and the rest of the team are a fantastic group to work, providing leads and giving direction,” he said.

The rest of the Northwest Open went smoothly, he said.

“We had perfect weather, and the course is top-tier,” Gullikson said. “Mark Dalton deserves kudos for the condition of the course. (Club pro) Chris Peterson and his staff were easy, fun and professional to work with. (Executive chef) Jason (LaBarge) puts on three big spreads. The Meadow Springs membership was gracious, as were the volunteers. These folks had the Nike and Buy.com Tour, so they know what to expect.

“And I think the club was happy,” he added. “Because of the lack of bodies in the pro-am, we were able to open up the course to members on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. So they gained back some access to their course for three days. Typically, members lose it for all six days.”

The section also presented a $5,000 check to the Children’s Developmental Center, and a raffle produced another $1,600 donation.